


Cry Me a River

by memefucker69



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hate to Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 23:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memefucker69/pseuds/memefucker69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kim Jongin never expected his nemesis, Do Kyungsoo, to be in his dorm when he got home late. Especially not drunk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cry Me a River

**Author's Note:**

> collab between memefucker69 and thatweirdo (aff)

Jongin hated Kyungsoo. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he didn't exactly like him; they'd just never gotten along. Everything he did irritated Jongin, from the way he talked, to the way ate, to the way he breathed. It was a nightmare to be around him, but sadly, he often was made to put up with his presence, as they had a lot of mutual friends. They frequently had to sit at the same table in the cafeteria, at opposite ends of course, and Jongin always did his best to ignore the way Kyungsoo deliberately baited him, staring him down or purposely mention his name in conversation, but it was just no use.

Right now, they were at the place Jongin worked. It was a tiny little ice cream shop in the middle of town, near enough to their university that all of his friends - plus Kyungsoo, damn it - walked the ten minutes to visit him whenever he was on shift. He was mostly convinced they came just for the ice cream. It was usually fairly quiet, especially on his late shifts, and the group of nine or sometimes ten (if Yixing suddenly popped in from the dance studio next door) were the most traffic the place got during that time, so Jongin made them their orders with his colleague and then leaned over the counter to talk to them. Or sometimes, if his boss wasn't lurking around, he'd join them at the table.

"Jongin, c'mere a second," Kyungsoo's voice always grated on his nerves, and the way he said his name was just...infuriating.

"What do you want now?" Jongin grumbled, retying the knot of his red and white checked apron so he could have something to do with his hands that wasn't potentially violent.

"Is that any way to talk to a customer?" Kyungsoo sneered, "How rude. Can I get a refill of this, please?" He waved his empty cup at him. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes and snatch the cup away was extremely difficult, but he managed it, even though his movements were stiff. Well, he waited to roll his eyes until he was facing the other way, and punched the buttons for fanta roughly. God, how could he be so damn annoying?

Almost slamming the cup down, Jongin smiled falsely and took a deep breath. Hopefully he would stop bothering him and let him talk to the people who he was actually friends with. Why they kept the idiot around was a mystery to him, but maybe it was to do with studying. Irritatingly, Kyungsoo was pretty smart, always aced the tests that Jongin would bomb. Okay, yes, he didn't study and procrastinated a lot by partying, but still.

He turned around to face Chanyeol, who sat next to his boyfriend, Baekhyun, and put his hands on his waist, effectively cutting Kyungsoo off from the rest of the people here.

"So, Jongin, are you going to the party friday night?" Chanyeol asked, his deep tenor voice carrying across the room, and making Jongin slightly nervous. If his boss heard him chatting to the customers instead of doing his job again he might get in trouble. He looked over his shoulder, but he wasn't there. Looking back at Chanyeol, he shrugged.

"I dunno. I might go. It depends on how much work I have to do," Jongin rubbed the back of his neck. He was working until closing tonight, which was only 10, but he was usually exhausted by the time he got home and even then there was still work to do...

"You mean how badly you've procrastinated?" Chanyeol laughed.

"Shut up," he complained, but with a smile, because he was right. He had a truckload of work due in for next week, had had it for weeks, and hadn't done very much of it yet. 

"Okay, well, if you can come, you should," Baekhyun flashed an ultrawhite grin. "It's at Siwon's place, and you know the guy is loaded. He always throws the best parties."

"I'll think about it," he said, sending a glance to Kyungsoo. Jongin definitely didn't want to go if Kyungsoo was going.

The ring of the bell above the door alerted him to the arrival of another customer, so he put his smile on and went back to the till.

-

Jongin couldn't wait to get back to his dorm, since he was pretty tired and very hungry. Hopefully his dormmate, Chanyeol, would already be asleep. If he cooked anything for himself, Chanyeol would insist on him making enough for the both of them, regardless of whether he'd already eaten. Jongin had forgone the party that night, and instead worked tirelessly in the library pretty much all evening. He had a bit of a headache because of it. He knew he'd deal with a whiny Chanyeol in the morning because of it.

The brunet dug around in his pocket for his keys while in the elevator, and dragged his hand through his hair. At least he didn't have to go up all the flights of stairs to get to his room, on the seventh floor. Once he reached their room, he tried the knob to find it locked, meaning Chanyeol wasn't back yet - if he was coming back that night at all.

His keys clinked as he shoved them into the doorknob, rubbing his eyes and swaying on his feet in fatigue. Jongin somehow managed to get it in the lock, twisting it and giving the door a kick because that's what cool people did. His door swung inwards, and he almost fell over the threshold when he saw what was waiting for him on their sofa. Or rather  _who_.

"Kyungsoo?" He recoiled in disgust, energy fueled by surprise instantly snapping him out of his tired state. What was  _he_ doing here, sullying the sanctity of his (and Chanyeol's) own home?

"What the fuck?!" He yelled, slamming the door behind him and stalking over to the little cretin, who woke up from sleeping with a start. Kyungsoo stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before there was a slight tremble to his puffy lips. Jongin folded his arms across his chest, expecting some sort of explanation.

But he was definitely not prepared for the older man to suddenly start crying. Kyungsoo's face scrunched up into a distraught grimace, a warning sign, and Jongin had no time to react before fat tears started cascading over his cheeks, and Jongin was utterly lost. He'd never made anyone  _cry_ before. A small sting of pride washed over him before Kyungsoo started full-out  _sobbing_.

"W-Wait, don't cry," he raised his hands pacifyingly, or so he  _thought_ , but Kyungsoo just started crying harder, and curled up into a ball in the corner of the sofa. "Why are you crying? I didn't mean to..." Jongin whispered urgently, trying not to get to close, so as not to make Kyungsoo cry louder than he already was, while simultaneously figure out a way to  _get him_   _out of here_. God-fucking-dammit, he was not good with words or comforting others. Not to mention that he wasn't close to Kyungsoo, so how was he to know how to make him feel better?

"Chan-yeol d-doesn't..." he sobbed, but the rest of the sentence was incomprehensible, blubbers of gasps and sobs.

"Chanyeol, what?" Jongin demanded, repeating himself more softly when Kyungsoo didn't answer after a few moments.

"Ch-Chanyeol doesn't...like m-me anymore,"

"What?" Jongin squinted at the weeping mess of his nemesis. This was actually pretty good blackmail material, now that he thought about it. All he needed to do was get his phone out and start recording this, and Kyungsoo would never be able to annoy him again, unless he wanted his reputation of a cold, heartless man to be obliterated. 

But he couldn't. Jongin was just too soft-hearted, and even though he hated the guy, the guilt of possibly ruining the Kyungsoo's life didn't appeal to him quite that much. Not yet anyway. He'd see how hard it be to pacify him first.

"Why not?" Jongin tried to get something out of him that wasn't sniffling but failed. He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. Why him? Why was it him that had to deal with this? He just wanted to eat something then go to sleep, but no. Someone up there had it out for him. He knew he should have just forced himself to wear socks that morning.

Kyungsoo shifted slightly, and a crinkling sound alerted Jongin to a bright, sunny yellow post-it-note that had been stuck onto Kyungsoo's chest, squished between the folds of his shirt. He tilted his head to read it, but it was too small. Jongin thought it was some sort of joke or something, only to recognize Chanyeol's handwriting scrawled across the yellow parchment. He reached forward to take it off him, delicately grabbing it without actually touching the blubbering fool in front of him. At this distance, Jongin could smell alcohol on Kyungsoo's clothes and his breath, which meant that he had probably just come from the party himself; it was late enough for him to have drunk a considerable amount. So Kyungsoo was the type of drunk to cry a lot. Huh.

Chanyeol's handwriting was messier than usual here, which meant that he was in a hurry or intoxicated himself. Probably both. Which made sense when he read what was on it:

 

_Jongin pls help im spending the night at my boo's room so we had to kick kyungsoo out im sorry_

_please take care of him he's a crybaby when drunk_

_and please dont kill me_

_-Chanyeol <3_

 

Jongin cursed, and clenched the paper in his fist, crumpling it up. Screw Chanyeol. How could he do this to him? He cursed again, ignoring how it made Kyungsoo hiccup sadly. With a sigh, he tried to calm his nerves, rubbing his tired face with his hands. It couldn't be too hard. As long as he could just get Kyungsoo to sleep, Jongin could deal with it in the morning.

He glanced over at Kyungsoo, still wearing the shirt and jeans he'd been wearing earlier in the day. The least he could do was fetch him something to sleep in - because he reeked of alcohol. Yeah. Jongin moved to head into his room, only for Kyungsoo to grab the sleeve of his jacket. 

"I'm just going to get some other clothes for you, okay?" he said as gently as he could, like talking to a child. Kyungsoo let go, eyes threatening to overflow once again, and Jongin ripped his arm away, not wanting to spend another minute looking at his damp face. 

Rummaging around in his draws - he was disgusted that he would have to lend him his own clothes, as Chanyeol's would be far too big - he found a few old things that he wouldn't mind incinerating after this whole business was finished with. What else did you have to do for a drunk person that would count as care? When Chanyeol was drunk, Jongin made him drink water before he went to sleep, so he wouldn't have a headache in the morning, but Jongin was considering just letting Kyungsoo deal with the pain. Screw what Chanyeol thought.

Hmm, what else? Something to sleep on, he thought. Did they even have anything like that? They might have a spare blanket but unless one of them wanted to give up their pillow - well Chanyeol wasn't even here, so he could sacrifice his, Jongin thought, snatching it off his bed. He carried the cumbersome load back out to the lounge and dumped them on Kyungsoo's lap.

"Change into those," he ordered. Then he walked into the kitchen, and opened the fridge, searching for something he could make and eat in as little time as possible. He found nothing in the fridge, and instead looked in the cupboards above the counter, hoping for something. He made a happy noise when he discovered a couple of pot noodles he hadn't known were there. 

He put on the kettle for the pot noodles, and filled a glass of orange juice while he waited. He turned around and his vision was caught by Kyungsoo, who was still stood in the middle of the room, stuck with his shirt over his head. Jongin rolled his eyes. Couldn't he do anything? God fucking damn Chanyeol to have left him in this mess. He was going to murder that idiot when he next sees him.

Sighing angrily he stalked over to Kyungsoo and yanked the shirt off of him, maybe a little too roughly, because not a second later Kyungsoo was once again in hysterics. Jongin counted to ten and breathed deeply, pretending not to notice that Kyungsoo was more muscular than he thought he'd be. Though he didn't hold a candle to his own abs. He didn't work out occasionally for nothing.

"You can't do anything right can you?" Jongin gritted his teeth. The kettle clicked off, and he went back to the kitchen to pull it off of the burner, hoping that maybe Kyungsoo could get dressed by himself now and didn't need to be dressed like a little child. He stirred the noodles with a fork, waiting for them to cook before he ate them, and listened to the soft rusting of clothing behind him, meaning that Kyungsoo was indeed capable by himself. He sighed in relief. Undressing Kyungsoo was  _not_ something he ever wanted to do. Not in a million years.  _Never_.

While he ate, he watched Kyungsoo prepare his bedding on the sofa, arranging it and rearraging it, all the while wiping his face on his sleeve. Good thing he was going to burn those later.

He finished eating just as Kyungsoo was getting under Chanyeol's duvet. Luckily, Kyungsoo looked a lot less teary now, so he thought maybe it was safe to go past him and into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He thought that even if they  _did_ have spare toothbrushes, he wouldn't give one to Kyungsoo. Let him have awful morning breath. Jongin didn't care.

Before going to bed, Jongin left out a glass of water and a box of painkillers, for when Kyungsoo woke up. It took him a while to get to sleep, which he put down to the fact that his arch nemesis was sleeping like a baby in the next room, with his arms above his head and mouth wide open. He'd taken pictures of this as blackmail, as it didn't seem quite as life ruining as the crying, but then his eyes were still a little red and puffy so it was still evidence. 

Kyungsoo was gone by the time Jongin meandered into the front room the next morning, but he'd left behind everything in a huge heap for Jongin to clear up, his clothes in a pile on the floor. Jongin grimaced at the thought of touching things that Kyungsoo had worn but tidied them up anyway. 

-

Jongin didn't see Kyungsoo when the others come to the ice cream shop for a whole week, which Jongin was glad about. He must have been embarrassed. Served the idiot right, he thought, as he looked at the picture he took of him. In the photo, Kyungsoo's hair was a mess, and he was drooling a little bit. It was a little gross. He closed it when the bell above the door rang and Chanyeol walked in, Baekhyun hanging off his arm and the others trailing in after him - minus Kyungsoo of course.

But Chanyeol didn't seem happy to see him for some reason. In fact he looked quite annoyed as he strode up to him and leant over the counter and hissed.

"Alright, what did you do to Kyungsoo?" 

"I'm offended you think I did anything at all!" Jongin exclaimed, laying a hand over his chest in indignation. Obviously Chanyeol didn't believe him, judging by the unamused quirk of his eyebrow. 

"He says he doesn't want to come here, and the only logical conclusion is that you did something when you 'took care of him' last friday." 

"Hey, hey. I didn't do anything to him. I did exactly what your post-it-note said!" He folded his arms across his chest, hurt that his best friend thought he would stoop so low. Hurting a drunk person? No. He'd only do something to irritate Kyungsoo if he was lucid enough to formulate a comeback. Chanyeol narrowed his eyes.

"Well normally he's really excited to come here, so I don't get why not,"

"Maybe he's embarrassed because he's a blubbering crybaby when he's drunk, and he revealed his weak side to his enemy?" Jongin huffed. Chanyeol looks taken aback, and a little worried,

"I didn't think of that," Chanyeol muttered, "Ok, whatever. He'll probably get over it. While I'm here can you get me a raspberry and lemon sundae with cookie crumbs? For me and Baek," he smirked. 

"Yeah, sure," Jongin smiled back, glad everything was cleared up now. He didn't like arguing, unless it was with Kyungsoo.

-

It was in the food court when they finally met again. But the meeting didn't last long: the moment Jongin sat down Kyungsoo walked off, taking his food with him, even though Jongin was on the other end of the table. Jongin didn't miss the fact that Kyungsoo's cheeks turned bright red at the sight of him, despite covering his face with one hand, and smiled to himself. This was really too good, he thought, much more fun than simply exchanging barbs.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol seemed to find something funny too, between them, but they didn't share the source of their amusement with Jongin. 

-

The next time Jongin was at work again, he was disappointed to find Kyungsoo trailing in after everyone else. But he looked a little down. Normally he was all attitude, and glared at Jongin the moment he passed through the doors, but now he was staring at the floor and looking away. Not like him at all. Jongin wondered what was taking him so long to recover from the crying thing. He practically didn't care anymore.

Oh well, it was his choice to act like that, he couldn't do anything about it, could he?

"Jongin!"  Chanyeol greeted him at the counter, "What's up?"

"Chanyeol! You saw me this morning, not much has changed since then," he teased. Chanyeol winked at him, earning a disgusted noise from Jongin.

"Ok, I want my usual, and Baekhyun wants a tropical sundae, and the others can order for themselves: I forgot what they wanted already. Got that?"

"Yeah," Jongin nodded, handing Chanyeol a notebook for the others' orders and half turned away to start making the ones he already had, but stopped at the last second, "wait, what's up with Kyungsoo? He's being really weird lately - what?" He paused in his speech as he noticed Chanyeol was leering at him, a smug smile encompassing his annoying face.

"That's something you'll have to ask him yourself," 

Jongin watched him swiftly return to his boyfriend's side and whisper something to him, then both turn to look at him giggling. What were they in preschool? Why were they acting like such kids? Jongin rolled his eyes, and started making their ice cream, squinting at them over the ice cream display. Kyungsoo was sat on the chair furthest away from him, which was unusual too: normally he'd sit close to the counter so he could annoy him. What the hell was up with him today?

He grumbled to himself, placing the glass bowls in front of his friends, and picking up the notebook with everyone else's orders on it, catching Kyungsoo's eye as he does so. Kyungsoo looked away, face red, and glared at his phone on the table in front of him. Whatever, Kyungsoo could be weird as long as he was weird away from him. Jongin didn't care.

With assistance from his colleague, Yeri, who was unfortunately the only girl in the room at the moment, Jongin began making up the others ice cream. 

"You're so lucky to have someone like _him_  liking you," She nudged him, her blonde pigtails swishing over her shoulders.

Jongin gave her a look. "What are you talking about?" 

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed?" 

"Noticed  _what?_  Who are you even talking about?" Jongin gestured wildly, sending sprinkles all over the floor, and inciting hooting from Chanyeol at his mistake. Yeri rolled her eyes at him, then just before she went to get the dustpan and brush, she muttered,

"You're so dumb, no wonder he's so upset,"

Why did it feel like everyone was ganging up on him today? Deep in thought over what Yeri could have meant, Jongin took the ice cream out to the customers, knowing by now who's is who's. When he placed Kyungsoo's in front of him, he accidently brushed his hand, but instead of snatching it back and making a fuss, he just apologised quietly, still thinking about what Yeri said. 

Someone liked him and was upset because he was dumb? And moreover she had to be talking about someone who was here, otherwise she wouldn't know about it, so who here could possibly like him? He was sure most of them were straight anyway, so it couldn't be Jongdae, Joonmyeon, Luhan, Sehun or Yixing, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol were together so that ruled them out. All that left was Minseok, Tao and ...Kyungsoo?

He looked over the table, skimming his eyes accross all the potential candidates. Tao made it clear he was interested in someone else (Yifan), so no way was it him. Minseok was a mysterious one, he didn't know what went on in his mind, or even if he was gay, he'd just never had a girlfriend, or even mentioned being attracted to anyone, so he'd come back to him later. The last one was Kyungsoo. Jongin peeked through the gap between the coffee machine and the till at him. He was looking at his phone, absently stroking his hand. It couldn't be him. 

Kyungsoo glanced up, somehow knowing exactly where to look. Jongin widened his eyes ducked out of sight, hand over his chest in shock. What the hell just happened? It couldn't be Kyungsoo, there was absoultely  _no way_  it was Kyungsoo. No. No way. He leaned back to look again, and saw Kyungsoo had pink cheeks and looked a bit sad. 

Yeri said  whoever 'he' was, he was upset. Because of  _him_. Because of his stupidity? Oh god.

Heart palpitating, Jongin tried to focus on finishing making the remainder of the ice cream, rather than  _oh my god Kyungsoo likes me?_ No, no, no, no! He needed to get his head out of the clouds. There was no way. There was just no way. Jongin was just seeing things, and it wasn't like Kyungsoo outright stated it. He was just getting ahead of himself. With red dusting his own cheeks, he scooped out the right amount of mint chocolate chip into the bowl, sneaking another peek at Kyungsoo, who was fidgeting in his seat. He seemed...nervous?

The only way for him to know was to ask. But what if he was wrong, and Kyungsoo laughed at him? Jongin clicked his tongue in frustration as he drizzled chocolate syrup onto the dessert and dropped a cherry on top. Then it occurred to him that  _holy fuck_ , what would he do if Kyungsoo did like him? He toyed with the idea of rejecting him terribly before remembering Kyungsoo's teary face. Jongin wasn't that cruel. If it happened, he would reject him smoothly. There was no way he would ever  _date_  Kyungsoo.

With his resolve solidified, the brunet carried the bowl of ice cream to Yifan, who had recently joined the large circular table in the corner of the small shop, the one that practically had Jongin's friends' names carved into it. The older man thanked him with a fist bump, and Jongin switched his view to Chanyeol. He, Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun seemed to be in some sort of whispered argument, Kyungsoo looking incredibly embarrassed and five seconds from punching Baekhyun in the face as always. They didn't notice Jongin standing there.

"Kyungsoo, just do it," Baekhyun urged.

"I can't. There's no way. I'm fine with the way things are now, okay?" Kyungsoo replied.

"Obviously not, if that night of the party had anything to say about it," Chanyeol pointed out.

 _Do what? The night of the party?_ Did they mean the night Kyungsoo slept over in Jongin's apartment?

Raising a brow, Jongin cleared his throat, causing all three of them to look at him with blatant surprise. He especially focused on Kyungsoo, who averted his eyes to his lap, ignoring his chocolate ice cream that was melting into a creamy soup. Chanyeol and Baekhyun immediately pasted wide grins on their faces. The younger male pursed his lips, eyeing them with suspicion. "So what're you guys talking about?"

"Oh, you know, how perfect the weather is for ice cream," Chanyeol smiled. But Jongin knew from experience that when his eye twitched, which it did, he was most definitely lying.

"Seemed a little more serious than that," Jongin pushed, crossing his arms over his chest. He was going to get to the bottom of whatever the hell they were hiding from him that seemed to involve Kyungsoo.

"The weather is very serious, Jongin," Baekhyun frowned.

"Extremely serious,"

"Global warming is upon us as we speak,"

"Soon the Earth will--"

Chanyeol was interrupted as Kyungsoo's chair squeaked against the tiled flooring. The shorter male huffed, sending the couple a glare before facing Jongin. "C-Come with me," he mumbled, grasping the younger's wrist and catching him by surprise as he dragged him towards the restrooms. 

"What the hell?" Jongin tried to yank his arm away, but Kyungsoo held tight, successfully bringing them both into the empty men's room. "Kyungsoo?"

"Shut up, okay?" Kyungsoo grumbled, seeming conflicted and embarrassed as he released Jongin and stood in front of him. "Ugh, this is terrible. Why am I so stupid?" he sighed.

"Why did you bring me here? Can I leave?" the brunet huffed, not really understanding the situation at all. "Do you have something to say or...?"

"Thank you," Kyungsoo blurted, looking up at Jongin with a completely serious expression, "for the other night, I mean. I know I'm...emotional when drunk." He scratched at his wrist nervously, obviously a little apprehensive.

"Oh," Jongin blinked, "it was, uh, no problem. It was mostly Chanyeol's fault, not yours." He nearly slapped himself in surprise. The normal Jongin would grin at Kyungsoo and tease him with those pictures he took when the drunk man was sleeping, not accept his thanks and reassure him. He was kind of disappointed in himself, to be honest.

"Also, um," the older man lowered his gaze to the floor, shoes shuffling on the cheap tiles and hands twisting nervously. "I wanted to know if...if you were free tomorrow morning?"

Okay, now he was definitely confused. "What?"

"I think we got off on the wrong foot when we met," Kyungsoo clarified, cheeks pink once again. "Do you want to go out for coffee tomorrow before class?"

Jongin snorted. "Like a date?" Yes, he was back to his cool, nemesis-like self.

"...Yeah, like a date," Kyungsoo answered honestly, lips spreading into a tiny smile that sucked the air out of Jongin's lungs.

He hadn't expected Kyungsoo to say _that_  of all things. Jongin was obviously teasing him, but Kyungsoo seemed 100% legit. And holy shit was his heartbeat speeding up? Jongin resisted the urge to hold his face as his cheeks burned as well. Wait - no, this was probably some intricate trap. Kyungsoo was a really good liar (Jongin knew from experience), and he was not about to let him get the upper hand on him. Fuck being nice and gently rejecting him.

Folding his arms over his chest, Jongin straight out  _laughed_ as if it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"Me? Go out with you?" he giggled, stiffling his laughs with his hand as Kyungsoo's face instantly fell. "Never in a million years. I'd rather  _die_  than date you." Proving his point, Jongin pushed past Kyungsoo, who was still with shock, eyes wide and lowered to the floor. Exiting the restroom, he felt a little proud of showing Kyungsoo up and walked back to his station, Yeri glaring at him for having taken so long and motioning to the long line of customers in front of them.

Jongin instantly took up to making the orders as Yeri rang up the customers. He wasn't really focused on much other than scooping out the frozen treat and sprinkling on toppings until he heard the squeak of the restroom doors and the sound of hurried feet. He lifted his gaze beyond the glass barrier just in time to see Kyungsoo rushing to grab his bag, and his friends worriedly asking what was wrong. Jongin's heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach as he caught sight of the shorter male furiously wiping at his eyes with a fist and the heartbroken grimace on his face. Kyungsoo stormed out of the shop without so much of a glance at Jongin.

His stomach tied in knots as he received not only death glares from Baekhyun and Chanyeol across the room but a severe scolding from Yeri, who had caught on as to what had happened.

 

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Baekhyun practically shouted, threatening to climb over the counter if Chanyeol wasn't tugging him back. Jongin inwardly thanked that they were closed so no one else could witness him being chewed out by his friends and co-worker.

"I didn't know he was being serious!" Jongin defended, though he knew it was no use. "I thought he was just messing with me!"

"Even Kyungsoo knows it's ridiculously rude to fake asking someone out," Luhan added, fuming from the back of the little group that had formed in front of Jongin. 

"He was so embarrassed and scared to ask you out, and you didn't even give him a chance!" Baekhyun said, red in the face with anger. Jongin had rarely seen him ever get angry, and he figured that in the rare times Baekhyun was, it was probably when he was blazingly furious.

Jongin knew he had fucked up. Majorly. The guilt tore at his heart and clawed at his throat, and it made him think back to when Kyungsoo was crying in his apartment. He could hardly stand his tears then, but now he was off somewhere and crying for real because Jongin shattered his heart. With a pain-filled groan, he held his face in his hands. 

"Why didn't you guys tell me?" he muttered into his palms.

"It wasn't something for us to tell," Chanyeol answered, arm thrown over Baekhyun's small shoulders. "Kyungsoo didn't want you to know, but we just managed to get him to confess, thinking you'd be up to it."

"Wait," Jongin's hands slid down to reveal his eyes, "how long has he...had feelings for me?" He felt a bit flustered with outright saying it.

"Practically since you met," Baekhyun stated as if it had been obvious all along.

" _What?_ " But they had hated each other at first sight? Or had that just been Jongin's misunderstanding the whole time, and he had just mixed up flirting with hatred?

"Oh my god," Jongin cried, "how am I gonna fix this?"

"Just date him," all ten of them (plus Yeri) said in unison.

"Text him, right now, and tell him you want to go out," Yeri offered before her small face scrunched up in anger. "You better apologize too, Kim Jongin."

His heart sped up its tempo at the thought of actually dating Kyungsoo. Talking over coffee with Kyungsoo, holding Kyungsoo's hand, Kyungsoo smiling at him, kissing Kyungsoo... Jongin quickly shook his head to clear his mind of such thoughts and whipped his phone out from his back pocket, only to realize he didn't even know Kyungsoo's number. Who keeps their nemesis's number?

Baekhyun seemed to have already anticipated this as he read out Kyungsoo's number with an exasperated tone, still angry at Jongin. 

_hey, it's jongin. i'm really sorry about what happened today. i didn't know you had feelings for me and i acted stupidly. if you want, i can make it up to you over coffee tomorrow morning? i'm serious about this. i thought about what you said and...i think we got off on the wrong foot too._

"Is this okay?" he showed the screen to the others.

"Our son is growing up," Chanyeol stated, hugging Baekhyun close and wiping an invisible tear from the corner of his eye.

"Add a smiley face," Yeri suggested, and Jongin rolled his eyes but did as she said.

_hey, it's jongin. i'm really sorry about what happened today. i didn't know you had feelings for me and i acted stupidly. if you want, i can make it up to you over coffee tomorrow morning? i'm serious about this. i thought about what you said and...i think we got off on the wrong foot too c:_

-

Kyungsoo didn't reply until later that evening when Jongin was crawling beneath the covers of his twin bed, checking his phone for any last minute notifications before setting his alarm. The second his text ringtone went off, Chanyeol sat up in his bed, hurriedly asking if it was Kyungsoo.

_i swear to fucking god if ur playing me kim jongin i will personally slit your throat. i'll see you tomorrow at 8 though. don't be late._

It wasn't the nicest text he'd ever received, but Jongin smiled shyly at his phone. At least Kyungsoo had accepted his offer.

The next morning, Jongin got up just in time to get ready for the day, throwing on something a little bit nicer than his usual sweats and hoodie that he wore to his morning classes. He even got on Chanyeol's nerves, asking over and over if he looked okay. Jongin didn't want to admit it, but he was pretty nervous about meeting Kyungsoo - especially on a date. His heart wouldn't stop freaking out and wanting to leap out of his chest, and he kind of felt like puking.

Trying to be as apologetic and kind as possible, Jongin arrived at the café at 8:00 sharp. Kyungsoo was already waiting, sipping absentmindedly at his coffee and sitting alone at a table in the corner. He peeked in the windows for a little, tiptoeing from side to side and extremely nervous. His hands were sweating, and he hurriedly wiped them on his jeans before sucking it up and entering the place, a little bell on the door announcing his arrival. Jongin could feel Kyungsoo's stare on him as he ordered a water and a blueberry muffin. He didn't like coffee. It smelled nice, but he absolutely hated the taste.

He did this sort of awkward, nervous waddle over to where Kyungsoo sat, avoiding his eyes shyly as he sat down. He knew his cheeks were red, and Jongin was scared on what Kyungsoo would say. He picked at his muffin, not wanting to be the first to speak, but he knew it'd be the best if he did. 

"Kyungsoo, I'm sorry."

"Just saying you're sorry isn't going to fix anything," Kyungsoo replied dryly.

"I know, but..." Jongin bit his lip. "Why did you pretend to hate me? If you had just acted like you liked me in the beginning then I would have..."

"Jongin," the older man sighed, "it was obvious from the beginning that you didn't like me. I knew I couldn't erase that first impression, so I thought that if I played along, I could at least try to get closer to you. That didn't work, judging by how you outright rejected me yesterday."

"That makes sense, I guess," he replied, unsure of how to exactly reply to that in the first place. Jongin was still trying to cope with the fact that Kyungsoo had liked him for such a long time. He cleared his throat, and looked out of the window to avoid Kyungsoo's intense stare as he sipped his coffee. 

This was awkward. But what did he expect? He couldn't just undo years of fighting just like that, it was going to take time, he knew that. 

"Y'know, this is the first time we've been near each other without fighting since...well, since we met." Kyungsoo comments, seemingly offhandedly, but Jongin can see the way hs knuckles are white around his coffee cup, which tells him he's not nearly as confident as he pretends to be. He feels like shit. 

"Yeah, well. I'm sorry, ok?" Jongin rested his face on his palm, contorting his face so that his cheek is squished up. 

"Stop that," Kyungsoo reprimanded.

"Stop what?" What was he doing wrong this time? He shot a glare at his ex-nemesis and was surprised by how ... _cute_ he looked, hiding most of his face behind his coffee and peering over the rim with big vulnerable eyes. Jongin narrowed his eyes at him, wondering why on earth he was suddenly not driven to immediate irritation at the sight of Kyungsoo's face like he used to be.

"Just - just  _stop_ , ok?" 

"I have to know what I'm doing in order to stop, right? A-are you  _blushing_? Oh my god," Jongin chuckled, "what did I do to cause  _that_ reaction?"

"Shut up," Kyungsoo warned, eyebrows overshadowing his adorable - no just  _big_ \- eyes.

"Hey, hey, don't cry," Jongin teased, pouting mockingly.

"I  _will_ hit you. Ugh, why did I think this was a good idea," he grumbled. 

"Because you _like_  me," Jongin smirked.

"Correction: I despise you," Kyungsoo huffed, though he was blushing again.

-

"Stop being so stiff," Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, facing Jongin as they sat on the couch.

"I can't help it. I haven't done this in a while..." the younger male confessed, cheeks red. 

It had been three weeks since they both agreed to put the past behind them and try dating. All in all, it had been going very smoothly. Their friends and family supported them and though they bickered sometimes, well  _a lot_ , Kyungsoo and Jongin seemed to be the perfect pair. And after learning more about his ex-nemesis, Jongin realized how likeable of a person Kyungsoo actually was.

And now, here they were, about to have their first kiss and Jongin felt like a first year in high school all over again. Honestly, he hadn't dated since then, so he was a bit rusty. And when he thought about it, that was pretty much Kyungsoo's fault anyway.

"We aren't about to perform open-heart surgery here, Jongin," Kyungsoo snorted, shifting closer on his knees until their legs were touching. "Just kiss me."

"Okay," Jongin sighed, reaching to grasp one of Kyungsoo's smaller hands in his own, "but don't make fun of me if it's bad." With that being said, he leaned closer, slowly closing his eyes just as Kyungsoo did. Their noses brushed together before two pairs of plush lips met in a soft, innocent kiss. Fireworks exploded in Jongin's mind, and he let out a tiny, excited breath. A hand twined in his hair to urge him closer, and Jongin deepened the kiss, tilting his head to the side for easier purchase as Kyungsoo's lips began to move against his.

The two of them soon grew increasingly eager, and then after a minor struggle, it was Jongin on top of Kyungsoo, who lay back on the couch. Jongin's hand slipped over his shoulders and downs over his chest and stomach, drawing ever nearer to Kyungsoo's growing bulge. It sent a thrill through him that he was able to ignite this reaction in him, the same way it had when Kyungsoo admitted that he had jerked off to the thought of him before. Multiple times.

"Hey! Where do you think you're touching?" Kyungsoo batted his hands away, "don't flatter yourself into thinking that I want to have sex with you, stupid," he mumbled, his cheeks glowed pink, contrary to what he was saying. Jongin sat back a little and admired his nemesis-turned-boyfriend, lips red and slick, and sighed sadly.

"Fine," he started to crawl away,

"Now where are you going? I still want to make out," he yanked Jongin back down by the collar, and they continued where they left off, Kyungsoo's mouth falling open to let Jongin lick inside.

**Author's Note:**

> comment, give kudos, and bookmark! thank you c:


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